• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
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• 2017.06a
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• pp.306-306
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• 2017

Screening for drought and salinity tolerance was undertaken for selected Philippine upland rice landraces during germinative and seedling stages to identify varieties which can potentially be grown in marginally dry and saline soils. While increasing PEG and NaCl concentrations caused obvious signs of injury to all rice genotypes, considerable varietal differences were noted in the nature of responses providing evidence that these genotypes possess broad intraspecific genetic variations for drought and salt tolerance. Inconsistent responses of these varieties during both growth stages highlight complexities involved in stress responses and underscore the futility of utilizing a single stage in the rice plant's life cycle for physiological screening. Notwithstanding these perplexing responses, G_Katiil and Ml-Pilit Tapul were observed to thrive relatively well despite increased salt and drought stress during early growth stages and may therefore possess genes needed in crop improvement efforts for drought and salinity tolerance. While these results do not reflect the entire spectrum of adaptive expression to drought and salinity stress during the life cycle of the upland rice plant, they nonetheless provide an easy, reliable and reproducible method for preliminary identification of drought and salt tolerant rice varieties.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.83-90
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• 2015

PURPOSES : The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between the crack propagation depth through a slab and crack width movement in continuously reinforced concrete slab systems (CRCSs). METHODS : The crack width movements in continuously reinforced concrete pavement (CRCP) and continuously reinforced concrete railway track (CRCT) were measured in the field for different crack spacings. In addition, the crack width movements in both CRCP and CRCT were simulated using finite element models of CRCP and CRCT. The crack width movements, depending on the unit temperature change, were obtained from both the field tests and numerical analysis models. RESULTS : The experimental analysis results show that the magnitudes of the crack width movements in CRCSs were related to not only the crack spacing, but also the crack propagation depth. In CRCP, the magnitudes of the crack width movements were more closely related to the crack propagation depths. In CRCT, the crack width movements were similar for different cracks since most were through cracks. If the numerical analysis was performed to predict the crack width movements by assuming that the crack propagates completely through the slab depth, the predicted crack width movements were similar to the actual ones in CRCT, but those may be overestimated in CRCP. CONCLUSIONS : The magnitudes of the crack width movements in CRCSs were mainly affected by the crack propagation depths through the slabs.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.469-474
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• 2012

Fagopyrum esculentum(FE) is an important food crop and medicinal plant that is used to improve diabetes, obesity, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia and constipation in Korea, but the underlying mechanisms involved in its anti-allergic activity are not fully understood. We investigated the effects on the release of inflammatory mediator and proximal signal events in $Fc{\varepsilon}RI$-mediated RBL-2H3 cell activation. FE reduced antigen (DNP-HSA)-induced release of histamine, prostaglandin D2 (PGD2) and cysteinyl Leukotriene (cysLT) in IgE-sensitized RBL-2H3 cells. In addition, it inhibited antigen-induced HDC2 and COX-2 and 5-LO mRNA expression in IgE-sensitized RBL-2H3 cells. FE also suppressed antigen-induced $Fc{\varepsilon}RI{\beta}$ and $Fc{\varepsilon}RI{\gamma}$ subunit mRNA expression in these cells. To identify the mechanisms underpinning the inhibition of release of inflammatory mediators such as histamine and PGD2 and cysLT by FE, we examined the proximal signal events of intracellular FceRI signaling molecules. FE suppressed antigen-induced phosphorylation of Lyn, Syk, LAT, $PLC{\gamma}1$, PI3K, Akt and cPLA2. Collectively, the anti-allergic effects of FE in vitro suggest its possible therapeutic application to inflammatory allergic diseases, in which its inhibition of inflammatory mediator and FceRI-dependent signaling events in mast cells may be hugely beneficial.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.38 no.5
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• pp.441-451
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• 2015

Recognition of cytosolic DNA initiates a series of innate immune responses by inducing IFN-I production and subsequent triggering JAK1-STAT1 signaling which plays critical roles in the pathogenesis of infection, inflammation and autoimmune diseases through promoting B cell activation and antibody responses. The stimulator of interferon genes protein (STING) has been demonstrated to be a critical hub of type I IFN induction in cytosolic DNA-sensing pathways. However, it still remains unknown whether cytosolic DNA can directly activate the JAK1-STAT1 signaling or not. And the role of STING is also unclear in this response. In the present study, we found that dsDNA directly triggered the JAK1-STAT1 signaling by inducing phosphorylation of the Lyn kinase. Moreover, this response is not dependent on type I IFN receptors. Interestingly, STING could inhibit dsDNA-triggered activation of JAK1-STAT1 signaling by inducing SHP-1 and SHP-2 phosphorylation. In addition, compared with normal B cells, the expression of STING was significantly lower and the phosphorylation level of JAK1 was significantly higher in B cells from MRL/lpr lupus-prone mice, highlighting the close association between STING low-expression and JAK1-STAT1 signaling activation in B cells in autoimmune diseases. Our data provide a molecular insight into the novel role of STING in dsDNA-mediated inflammatory disorders.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.62 no.3
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• pp.293-305
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• 2020

The difference in the breeding programs and population history may have diversely shaped the genomes of Korean native cattle breeds. In the absence of phenotypic data, comparisons of breeds that have been subjected to different selective pressures can aid to identify genomic regions and genes controlling qualitative and complex traits. In this study to decipher genetic variation and identify evidence of divergent selection, 3 Korean cattle breeds were genotyped using the recently developed high-density GeneSeek Genomic Profiler F250 (GGP-F250) array. The three Korean cattle breeds clustered according to their coat color phenotypes and breeding programs. The Heugu breed reliably showed smaller effective population size at all generations considered. Across the autosomal chromosomes, 113 and 83 annotated genes were identified from Hanwoo-Chikso and Hanwoo-Heugu comparisons, respectively of which 16 genes were shared between the two pairwise comparisons. The most important signals of selection were detected on bovine chromosomes 14 (24.39-25.13 Mb) and 18 (13.34-15.07 Mb), containing genes related to body size, and coat color (XKR4, LYN, PLAG1, SDR16C5, TMEM68, CDH15, MC1R, and GALNS). Some of the candidate genes are also associated with meat quality traits (ACSF3, EIF2B1, BANP, APCDD1, and GALM) and harbor quantitative trait locus (QTL) for beef production traits. Further functional analysis revealed that the candidate genes (DBI, ACSF3, HINT2, GBA2, AGPAT5, SCAP, ELP6, APOB, and RBL1) were involved in gene ontology (GO) terms relevant to meat quality including fatty acid oxidation, biosynthesis, and lipid storage. Candidate genes previously known to affect beef production and quality traits could be used in the beef cattle selection strategies.

• Herbal Formula Science
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.191-203
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• 2021

Objectives : In this study, we investigate the anti-allergic effects of Ullmus macrocarpa Hance (Ulmus) on RBL-2H3 mast cell (basophilic leukemia cell line), which are mediated by FcεRIs. Methods : We evaluated the effect of the ethanol extract of Ulmus on the allergic inflammatory response in IgE-antigen-mediated RBL-2H3 cells. Cell toxicity was determined by MTT assay and the markers of degranulation such as beta-hexosaminidase, histamine, PGD2, TNF-α, IL-4, IL-6 production of inflammatory mediators and FcεRI-mediated protein expression by western blot. Results : Ulmus inhibited degranulation and production of allergic mediators (e.g., TNF-α, IL-4, and IL-6) in them. Ulmus reduced histamine levels, expression of FcεRI signaling-related genes such as Lyn, Syk, and Fyn, and extracellular signal-regulated kinase phosphorylation in mast cells. Also, Ulmus reduced PGD2 release and cyclooxygenase-2 expression, and cytosolic phospholipase A2 phosphorylation in FcεRI-mediated RBL-2H3 mast cells. Conclusions : These results indicate that Ulmus exhibits anti-allergic activity through inhibition of degranulation and inflammatory mediators and cytokine release. These findings suggest that Ulmus may have potential as a prophylactic and therapeutic agent for the treatment of various allergic diseases.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.41-51
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• 2021

Src family kinases (SFKs), an important group of non-receptor tyrosine kinases, are suggested to be excessively activated during various types of tissue fibrosis. The present study investigated the effect of KF-1607, an orally active and a newly synthesized Src kinase inhibitor (SKI) with proposed low toxicity, in preventing the progression of renal interstitial fibrosis. Unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO) surgery was performed in 6-week-old male C57BL/6 mice to induce renal interstitial fibrosis. Either KF-1607 (30 mg/kg, oral gavage) or PP2 (2 mg/kg, intraperitoneal injection), a common experimental SKI, was administered to mice for seven days, started one day prior to surgery. UUO injury-induced SFK expression, including Src, Fyn, and Lyn kinase. SFK inhibition by KF-1607 prevented the progression of tubular injury in UUO mice, as indicated by decreases in albuminuria, urinary KIM-1 excretion, and kidney NGAL protein expression. Renal tubulointerstitial fibrosis was attenuated in response to KF-1607, as shown by decreases in α-SMA, collagen I and IV protein expression, along with reduced Masson's trichrome and collagen-I staining in kidneys. KF-1607 also inhibited inflammation in the UUO kidney, as exhibited by reductions in F4/80 positive-staining and protein expression of p-NFκB and ICAM. Importantly, the observed effects of KF-1607 were similar to those of PP2. A new pan Src kinase inhibitor, KF-1607, is a potential pharmaceutical agent to prevent the progression of renal interstitial fibrosis.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.487-500
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• 2021

To evaluate the geochemical characteristics and assess the pollution in surface sediments of the Nakdong River estuary, two sites adjacent to the estuary bank (Hh1 and Hh2) and one site at the upper part of the estuary bank (Hh3) were investigated. The surface sediments were analyzed for their contents of metals (Cu, Pb, Ni, Cr, Zn, and Al), organic matter (IL, COD, TOC, and TN), and grain size from 2018 to 2020. As a result of the pollution assessment, there was little anthropogenic contamination by most of the metals. The surface sediments in Hh2 had comparatively abundant silt and clay, whereas the other sites were mainly composed of sand. The organic index and contents of organic matter were highest at Hh2. Multivariate statistical analyses (cluster analysis and Pearson correlation analysis) showed that the contents of organic matter and pollution were associated with fine sediment. These results suggest that the geochemical characteristics were changed by the estuary bank built in the research area and that the increase in fine sediment attributable to the low-energy environment resulted in an increase in organic matter pollution.

• Journal of English Language & Literature
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• v.56 no.6
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• pp.1295-1310
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• 2010

In her "After Language Poetry: Innovation and Its Theoretical Discontents" in Contemporary Poetics (2007), Marjorie Perloff spotted Steve McCaffery's and Lyn Hejinian's points of reference and opacity/transparency in poetic language, and theorizes in her perspicacious insights that poetic language is not a window, to be seen through, a transparent glass pointing to something outside it, but a system of signs with its own semiological interconnectedness. Providing a critique and contextualizing Perloff's argument, the purpose of this paper is to introduce a topological model for poetry, language, and theory and further to elaborate the relation between the theory and the practice of language poetry in terms of "the revolution of language." Jacques Lacan's poetics of knowledge and of the topology of the mind, in particular, that of "extimacy," can articulate the way how language poetry problematizes the opposition between inside and outside in the substance of language itself. In fact, as signifiers always refer not to things, but to other signifiers, signifiers becomes unconscious, and can say more than they actually says. The original signifiers become unconscious through the process of repression which makes a structure of multiple and polyphonic signifying chains. Language poets use this polyphonic language of the Other at Freudian "Another Scene" and Lacan's "Other." When the reader participates the constructive meanings, the locus of the language writing transforms itself into that of the Other which becomes the open field of language. The language poet can even manage to put himself in the between-the-two, a strange place, the place of the dream and of the Unheimlichkeit (uncanny), and suture between "the outer skin of the interior" and "the inner skin of the exterior" of the impossible real of definite meaning. The objective goal of the evacuation of meaning is all the same the first aspect suggested by the aims of the experimentalism by the language poetry. The open linguistic fields of the language poetry, then, will be supplemented by The Freudian "unconscious" processes of dreams, free associations, slips of tongue, and symptoms which are composed of this polyphonic language. These fields can be properly excavated by the methods and topological mapping of the poetics of extimacy and of the klein bottle.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.32-41
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• 2012

Objectives: Rehmannia glutinosa pharmacopuncture solution (RGPS) was investigated to determine both its anti-allergic inflammatory effects on mast cells and its detailed mechanism of actions. Methods: We investigated whether RGPS suppress cytokines, enzymes, $Fc{\varepsilon}RI$ expression and $Fc{\varepsilon}RI$-mediated signaling in RBL-2H3 cells stimulated with anti-DNP IgE/DNP-HSA. The suppressive effects of RGPS on the levels of cytokines such as IL-$1{\beta}$, IL-6 and GM-CSF were measured using emzyme-linked immunospecific assay (ELISA). The mRNA expression levels of cytokines, enzymes (HDC2, COX-1, COX-2 and 5LO) and $Fc{\varepsilon}RI$ ${\alpha}{\beta}{\gamma}$ subunits were measured using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) method. The activation of $Fc{\varepsilon}RI$-mediated signaling was examined using Western blot analyses. Results: RGPS suppressed production of proinflammatory cytokines (IL-$1{\beta}$, IL-6, and GM-CSF) in stimulated RBL-2H3 cells significantly (p < 0.05). RGPS also suppressed mRNA expression of inflammatory enzymes (HDC2, COX-1, COX-2, 5LO). In addition, mRNA expression levels of $Fc{\varepsilon}RI{\alpha}$, $Fc{\varepsilon}RI{\beta}$and $Fc{\varepsilon}RI{\gamma}$ were lowered by treatment with RGPS. Finally, RGPS prevented phosphrylation of Lyn, Syk, LAT, Gab2, PLC ${\gamma}1/2$, PI3K, Akt, cPLA2 and $I{\kappa}B{\alpha}$. Conclusions: RGPS effectively suppresses mast cell activations such as degranulation and inflammatory response via down-regulation of the $Fc{\varepsilon}RI$-mediated signaling pathways in IgE/Ag-stimulated mast cells.